Darkness
by schizoferb
Summary: When a power outage threatens the city, what happens to everyone in the arcade? Will they escape in time before the outage deletes their code? Inspired by a post on the Wreck-It Ralph Confessions Tumblr (wreckitralphconfessions.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hi everyone! I just thought I would try something different this time. This is inspired by a post I saw on the Wreck-It Ralph Confessions Tumblr. I will provide the url for it at the end of the chapter.

Please Review! I love this movie so much, and I want to do it justice!

Marvin Litwak glanced up at the dark, cloud-filled sky as he flipped the sign on the arcade doors from "Open" to "Closed." Behind him, the weatherwoman explained the coming storm.

"High wind moving in from the east, thunder, lightning, if I were you, I'd stay inside, and have that emergency kit ready, strong possibility of blackouts tonight…"

Mr. Litwak switched off the television and grabbed his coat and umbrella. Before going out into the cold night, he glanced over the arcade and all the games. Hopefully the predictions of blackouts would be just that; predictions. He'd hate to see any of the games ruined, especially the older, more classic games. If a short or surge happened, the older systems may not be able to take it. And those games were so popular and nostalgic it'd break his heart to see them go.

He locked the doors, got in his car, and began driving home.

_I hope there are no blackouts tonight…_

**A/N: **So here's the URL for the Tumblr! It's amazing! Thank you to those who run it!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi again! Sorry about the URL not working in the last chapter, I put it in the summary. Just add a dot tumblr dot com to the end. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the last chapter, as short as it was, and I hope you like this one even more!

Please review!

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Fix-it Felix Jr. stood at the door of the West Niceland apartment complex. He gazed up at the dark screen, almost transfixed.

"Hey, Felix!"

Felix glanced over in the direction the voice was coming from. He saw his new-friend-but-longtime-nemesis Wreck-it Ralph. "Oh, how-de-do Ralph?"

"Fine, the usual, thrown off the building, landed in the mud, but everything is fine. How about you? You've been staring at the screen for a good hour."

"Have I? I guess I'm just confused. Doesn't it feel too early for Mr. Litwak to close the arcade?"

Ralph chuckled. "Does it matter? All that means is we get more time to visit everyone and go to Tappers and Burger Time."

"But Ralph, even I don't remember the last time Mr. Litwak closed the arcade early."

Ralph looked up at the screen. "I have a plan. Do you remember where the clock is?"

"Yes, over near Street Fighter."

"Okay. I'll throw you up so you can see the clock, then you'll see you just lost track of time."

Felix considered for a moment, then nodded. _Worst thing that could happen is I let time run away from me._ "Alright Ralph, but if I'm right, something fishy is going on. And it's up to us to find out what."

"Sure, Felix. Come here," Ralph said, walking over to the edge of the console. Felix followed. "Hop up," Ralph said, lowering his hands. Felix hesitated, but the desire to know what in creation was going on overcame him, and he hopped on. "Okay. On three, I'll throw you. Make sure you get a good look at the clock."

"Okay."

"One…. Two…."

On "Three" Ralph threw Felix into the air. The air blew past Felix's face as he flew, torpedo-like, to the screen. In the moments before he began his descent back to Ralph, he squinted at the clock. _That…that can't be right at all…_ Before he could double check what he saw (and investigate something he saw out of the corner of his eye) he fell back down to the ground.

Luckily, Ralph caught him before he could hit the ground. "Well? Whatdya see?"

"That can't be right…"

"I told you. It's seven o'clock, Litwak closed at six, normal time."

"No Ralph! No! It's six o'clock right now, and that means Mr. Litwak closed up at five! That's an hour earlier than normal!"

"So? Maybe Litwak messed up on the time."

"With all due respect, I highly doubt that the kids would let him close a whole hour early."

Ralph paused, considering what Felix said. "Come to think of it, we didn't get played all that much today…"

"And that's not all, I saw something else odd outside."

"What?"

"Well, I couldn't see to clearly, but it looked like a huge mass of thunderclouds."

As if on cue, thunder sounded from outside of the console.

"That doesn't sound good," Ralph said after the thunder subsided.

"Not at all. Do you think…?"

"Maybe."

"We haven't had one of those in a long time."

Ralph nodded. "Doesn't mean it couldn't happen now."

"We have to get everyone out of here."

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DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNNN!

Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hello all! Thank you for reading! Please leave my story a review, they give me the honeyglows!

Anyways, this fic will probably take longer to update and write than some of my other ones, because I don't have this one planned out too far.

Enjoy!

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The Nicelanders (along with Q*Bert and his friends) gathered in the penthouse. They chattered loudly, all wondering why Felix and Ralph called a meeting at such an odd hour. Felix could hear the confusion and disgruntle in their voices. He gulped and tugged at his collar. _If they only knew what was about to happen…_

He looked at Ralph as a signal to begin the meeting. "Now, everyone, I know we all want to go out and have our fun now that the arcade is closed, but there's something we all need to talk about."

Another batch of murmurings went up.

"What do you mean, Felix?" Gene asked, stepping forward out of the crowd. After all, he was the mayor of Niceland, so he should be the one to ask.

Felix tugged at his collar again. "Well…this is going to be hard to say. Please don't panic, I mean, I know this is a situation that often causes panic, but just hear us out, no need to be afraid…"

"What Felix means," Ralph cut in, "is that there's a problem with the arcade."

"A problem? What problem?" Gene asked after a moment of stunned silence.

"The arcade closed up early, a whole hour earlier than usual. Ralph and I checked out why, and we saw something mighty awful…"

"What, Felix?" Mary asked.

"There's a huge thundercloud over the city. And it's thundering fit to rattle bricks outside. Some lightning too. I think it would be safe if we all went to Game Central Station for the night."

Gene motioned for Felix and Ralph to speak to him privately. Whispering so the other Nicelanders wouldn't hear, he said frantically, "Do you really think this is a blackout situation?"

Felix and Ralph nodded. "I think so. Better safe than sorry anyway," Felix replied. "So everyone, he continued, speaking up so even Q*Bert could hear, "we all need to proceed in a nice, orderly fashion to the train."

"Alright guys, you heard him, to the train station. Don't push or anything, we'll all get there and we'll be fine," Ralph said, herding the Nicelanders to the door out of the building.

" $%#!%$!"

"Q*Bert! That is ridiculous! I am too telling you everything!" Felix shot back, perfectly aware that despite his claim of only speaking Q*Bertese, he understood English.

"!##%^**:""+_+!"

"A what?" Mary yelled. Clearly her Q*Bertese lessons had been paying off. "A blackout?!"

"A blackout!"

"We haven't had one of those since Turbo!"

"Oh my Programmer! What do we do?"

"Why didn't you tell us, Felix?"

"We're all going to die!"

"&*^(_#*$#)(*%&($*$*!"

"Everyone, please, remain calm, we're going to be okay…" Felix tried in vain to calm them, but the screams and terror drowned him out.

"QUIET!" Ralph finally yelled, punching the roof. The chaos abruptly halted. "We're all going to be fine. It's going to be okay. Just listen to Felix, myself, and Gene, we have everything under control." He looked to Felix, giving him the floor.

"Thank you Ralph. Now, as I was saying before, it would probably be for the best if we camped out in Grand Central Station tonight. Just in case."

"Alright everyone, you heard them, let's go to the trolley," Gene took control of the group and ushered them down the stairs. He looked back at Felix and Ralph, and then followed his citizens.

"Well, that went well," Felix said.

"Yup. Now all we need to do is sound the alarm in Game Central Station to let all the other games know," Ralph replied.

The two "brothers" walked down the stairs together in silence. Ralph worried about Vanellope and the other Sugar Rush racers. They weren't around the last time a blackout happened, heck, the technology wasn't even available to make a game like theirs! Would they know what to do? Would everyone get out in time? This would be the first incident they had since the near-destruction of Sugar Rush. And as much of a disaster that was…this was much bigger. If anyone got stuck inside their game when the power went out, the consequences were too horrible to think about. Their code would be corrupted beyond repair, or even worse, deleted! And then Litwak would be forced to unplug the game.

By the time they reached the trolley, Gene was the only Nicelander still in the game. The three of them got in the cart and began the ride to the station.

"So. What's our plan?" Gene asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, everyone is already at the station. There isn't really much else we can do."

Ralph looked at Felix in surprise. Had the usually chipper handyman really said that? Then he remembered: Sergeant Calhoun. Her game had just been plugged in; there was no way they could know blackout procedure either. And if Ralph was this worried about Vanellope and the others, there's no telling how worried Felix was about his wife.

"Felix…," Ralph addressed the handyman. "It's okay if you're scared. I am too."

Felix's lip twitched.

"It's okay. The Nicelanders aren't around. You can tell me."

Felix gulped. "Ralph…I'm terrified. What if we don't make it? What if Tammy doesn't make it? I don't want to lose her, I can't imagine another thirty years without her."

Ralph nodded. "I know. I can't imagine thirty years without Vanellope either."

A dull roar rang through the corridor. The Nicelanders must have sounded the alarm. Within minutes, every game connected to the station would cram into that station, which would become a makeshift shelter.

"Tammy's just such a dynamite gal, I—no, she's more than that, she's the most beautiful woman I know. People like her only come around once in your life, and if anything happens to her, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive myself." Felix barely choked out the last words before he buried his face in his hands. His shoulders quaked as he tried to choke back sobs.

"It's alright," Ralph placed a humongous hand on Felix's back, which practically enveloped his smaller "brother." "Sergeant Calhoun is one of the smartest characters I've ever met. She'll be fine."

"If you want me to, Felix," Gene piped up from the other side of the trolley, "I can take care of the Nicelanders. You just worry about your wife. Ralph, you just worry about Vanellope and the other kids."

Felix looked up at Gene, tears brimming in his eyes. "Thank you friend."

Ralph smiled. Despite any bad blood between him and Gene in the past, he really was a good guy when you needed him to be. "Thanks."

"No problem. Even if you are just the bad guy who wrecks the building."

The three of them cracked smiles at each other. The trolley pulled to a stop at Game Central Station. The doors opened, and the three of them were unprepared for what they saw.

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I enjoy this story very much. I hope you do too. If you do, please please tell me!


	4. Chapter 3

This story's just pouring out of me! Please tell me how I'm doing!

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The doors to Game Central Station opened. Felix heard the chaos before he saw it. The hysteria of the situation overpowered any order that the Surge Protector was trying to put in place. The Nicelanders stood paralyzed in the middle of the station, but several other characters ran around frantically looking for friends and family. Cries filled the air along with the blackout warning.

The three entered the station. Gene nodded to Felix and Ralph and went over to his citizens. Ralph and Felix continued around the station.

"Do you see anything?" Felix asked. Between the sheer volume of people packed into the station and his short stature, Ralph was his eyes.

Ralph squinted over at the doors to Sugar Rush. "Nope…nothing. There's no way they wouldn't have heard that alarm…"

The Surge Protector beamed up in front of them. "Names?"

Both Felix and Ralph gave their names and their games.

"Are you looking for anyone from outside your game?"

"Yes, I'm looking for all the Sugar Rush characters, especially Vanellope von Schweetz."

"And I'm looking for my wife, Sergeant Tamora J. Calhoun."

The Surge Protector wrote down their information. "Thank you. I haven't seen any of them yet, but I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them." He beamed away to the group of Pacman ghosts.

Felix felt anxiety rising in his chest. "He…he hasn't seen them Ralph…"

"Don't worry. Maybe they're just held up in the tubes."

Suddenly, the door to Sugar Rush opened, and the hordes of its candy residents flooded into the station. Among them was Sour Bill. Ralph and Felix ran towards him.

"Hey! Hey cough drop!" Ralph yelled.

"Oh no!" Sour Bill recoiled. The last time he and Ralph interacted, it had not gone well for him.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down! Where are the other racers?"

Sour Bill gestured behind him. Sure enough, all the racers filed in. Jubileena, Rancis, Snowanna, Candlehead, Adorabeezle, Crumbelina, Gloyd, Swizz, Minty, Citrusella, Nougetsia, Torvald, and Sticky. Following slowly behind, Vanellope dragged Taffyta behind her.

"I told you Taffyta, stop crying!"

"Kid! Oh thank goodness you guys are alright!" Ralph grabbed Vanellope up in a bear hug.

"Of course I'm okay, stinkbrain. We heard the sirens, doy."

"Well excuse me Princess Gummyfeet, I wasn't sure you knew what to do."

Vanellope laughed at Ralph's insult and hugged him back. Sour Bill ushered all the other inhabitants of Sugar Rush to the center of Game Central Station, away from the game port. "Felix, it's good to see you t…" Vanellope's greeting was cut off by the ping of Felix's jump sound byte. "Hey, where'd he go?"

Felix tore through the crowd, his slightly embarrassing jump sound byte following him. "Tammy? Tammy, where are you?" he called out. He hadn't seen anyone from Hero's Duty in the station. Where could they be? What if something was wrong? Those thoughts consumed his mind as he ran from group to group, desperately searching for his wife's face. Nothing. She wasn't anywhere. _Calm down Felix. Maybe their transport system is running slow or something. Game Central Station is a big place. You probably just missed her. I bet she's looking for you too._

But as much as Felix tried to keep these happy thoughts in his mind, with every moment he wasn't looking into her eyes, his worries only got worse. He had expected to race into the station, look for her for a minute or two, then have her sneak up from behind him and push his cap down like she always did. For some reason, that wasn't happening. Why wasn't that happening?

"Tammy?! Tammy?!"

Now the entirety of Game Central Station was staring at him. He was causing quite a stir. The faces of those around him bore looks of a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Felix! Felix!" Ralph ran over to him, Vanellope in tow.

"Ralph, I can't find her anywhere…I..I…" Felix buried his face in Ralph's leg.

Ralph turned to the crowd. "Move along guys. There's nothing to see here. Can't you give a guy a break?" The crowd dispersed, intimidated by Ralph's size. "It's okay. We'll find her."

"But Ralph, what if we don't…" Felix stopped. Had he hear correctly? He turned to the port of Hero's Duty. The seal on the door had cracked open and air released into the station. Felix jumped and ran towards the door.

"Tammy!"


	5. Chapter 4

I'm sorry for such a long wait! I have been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, so all my other stories are on the back burner for now.

Thank you for all your kind responses! They mean so much to me!

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The doors to Hero's Duty slid open in their usual sleek manner. Barely a moment after they opened, the soldiers poured out, led by Markowski and Kohut.

"The bugs! They're everywhere…." Markowski whined and cowed.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Kohut yelled. He turned to the rest of the soldiers. "Ten hut!" The soldiers complied. "Disperse gentlemen. Reconvene when the arcade is back in order!" With that, the soldiers dissolved from their ordinary formation and went off to different parts of the station.

"Kohut!" Felix yelled before he could get too far.

Kohut turned to see who had called his name. "Oh, Felix, it's you."

"Where's Tammy?"

Kohut paused for a moment. "I'm not sure. When the power surged, it triggered a quarter alert and the Cy-bugs swarmed the battle field. We assembled all the men and moved toward the gate. Then the bugs swarmed us, and she ordered me to get the men out."

"You mean she's still in there?!" Felix exclaimed. Everyone in earshot stopped their conversations and looked at him. Ralph and Vanellope ran over to him. "How could you have left her alone?! She could die if the power goes out!"

Kohut was exercising all possible control to avoid punching Felix in the face. Everyone could see that easily. "The orders she gave were to get all the men out safely. It's in my code to follow every order she gives. Are you suggesting that I disobey my code?"

"Yes, I am! This isn't a game! Lives are at stake here; her code could be corrupted or deleted if she's still in there!"

The argument escalated. Now the entire station was dead silent, watching the large football player-like soldier and the tiny handyman argue.

"Felix, calm down…"

"Don't tell me to be calm, Ralph!"

"But the Surge Protector…"

"Is there a problem here?" the blue hologram beamed in.

"Yes, there is a problem, my wife is stuck in her game, we have to get her out!" Felix replied, dashing for the portal to Hero's Duty.

"I'm sorry, no one is allowed to leave Game Central Station once they have arrived."

"But Tammy!"

The Surge Protector beamed in front of Felix. In a moment, the Protector changed from a blue hologram to a physical being, preventing Felix from moving any further.

"Sir, I'm afraid I can't let you through."

"No, I have to, my wife…"

"Sir!"

"Let me by!"

The entire station gasped. In a moment of rage, Felix had punched the Surge Protector in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Felix turned to look at their surprised expressions, then ran through the portal and into Hero's Duty before anyone could think to do anything to stop him.

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Please Review!


	6. Chapter 5

Woohoo! A new chapter!

Hopefully this wasn't so long that everyone forgot….

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Ralph looked at the port to _Hero's Duty _in disbelief. Vanellope stood next to him, mouth agape. Kohut blinked in confusion, and the Surge Protector lay on the floor moaning in pain. Moments ago, Felix had punched him in the face and sped down the port. The echo of his jump sound byte still hung in the air, amplified by the silence he left behind.

Ralph turned to the Nicelanders to see how they would react, Gene especially. He saw the realization descend over their faces like a curtain or a shadow of one of those ostriches from _Joust._ At first they bore the look of the utterly stunned, then confusion, then sheer terror as it occurred to them that the entire reason Litwak kept them plugged in all these years just disappeared full on into a situation he may never return from.

Within the moment, the Nicelanders broke out into a panic. They screamed and yelled for Felix to come back. They ran in all directions in their jerky 8-bit animations. Some held each other in shock; others held their hands up as if praying.

"Sweet mercy, what do we do?"

"Our plug's gonna get pulled!"

The entirety of the station, which had before been focused on Kohut and Felix's argument, now focused on the Nicelanders' panic. Soon, that panic seemed to infect the entire station as characters ran around, trying to make sure no one from their game followed Felix's suit.

If the Surge Protector had problems with crowd control before, he was going to have even more now. If he was conscious, that is. He still lay slack-jawed on the floor.

"Um… Kohut, could you take him somewhere else?" Ralph asked, motioning to the motionless Protector at his feet. "I guess I have to take care of this now."

"Sure thing Ralph." Kohut obliged and moved the Protector out of the way.

"Come on kid." Ralph took Vanellope's hand and went to the dead center of the station. He stood next to the information booth. "Now everyone…everyone…listen up..," he tried to calm the crowd, but his voice barely registered over the screams of fear. Contrary to popular belief, Ralph did not like to yell outside of game time.

Luckily, he had Vanellope there, who did. "Hey everyone! Listen to me 'cause I'm a president and Ralph 'cause he can squish you flat with his giant fists!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Each and every character in the station stopped mid-action to look at her, which was rather impressive considering that there were over 9,000 characters of all kinds crammed nearly end to end. "Thank you."

"Thanks Vanellope. Now, I know we're all freaked out about Felix leaving, but you'll see, he'll be back soon with Sarge and then we'll all ride out this blackout together. Everything will be fine. Felix survived me pounding him with bricks every day for thirty-one years; he'll make it out of this fit as a fiddle, like usual. So let's all just calm down and wait. It won't do us any good to worry."

That little pep-talk of sorts was exactly what they needed. Calm settled over the station as games gathered together. Bowser and Mario hustled the residents of their games together, Sonic and Eggman banded together to round up the others, and Pac-Man essentially herded in Clyde and the other ghosts.

A half hour later, an outsider would have never known what had just happened. All they would have seen would be a massive shelter. Peter Pepper, along with his in-game enemies but out-of-game friends, passed out burgers and other foods to the refugees. Tapper soon set up shop next to him and handed out free root beer, something everyone was thrilled about. It was comforting to have some semblance of normalcy in such a not-normal and frightening situation.

The Sugar Rush racers, minus Vanellope, huddled in a dogpile, some awake and talking to each other, some silently taking in their surroundings. Minty Zaki and Snowanna had fallen asleep, the adrenaline from earlier crashing hard on their systems. Candlehead and Rancis comforted Taffyta, who was, much to everyone's surprise, still crying.

Q*Bert and his friends found Pac-Man and other friends from older games. They sat in a group, talking and reminiscing about the old days. The older games worried about the possibility of the damage to their games, which Q*Bert reassured them that there was always a place for them in _Fix-it Felix Jr_.—assuming Felix came back, that is.

The Nicelanders, however, were a different story. Although they weren't outwardly panicking, Ralph could tell that they were still anxious. Every noise that happened even in the general direction of the _Hero's Duty _port set off a ripple of turning heads and movement. Ralph could see it, they wanted every noise, whether it was a sound byte or just a shifting wind, they desperately wanted that noise to be Felix marching proudly out of the port, Sergeant Calhoun behind him. Because if it was him, they would stop worrying. If Felix came back, everything would be okay, everything would be right again. Ralph didn't want to let Vanellope find out, but he was worried too.

True, the Turbo incident was absolutely dangerous. He almost got both his and Vanellope's game unplugged. Absolutely he could have died, but for some reason, this situation seemed infinitely worse. For one, this was a blackout, something that hadn't happened since…well, since Turbo himself. And secondly, if he didn't make it out in time, Felix and Calhoun's code would be gone. Poof, disintegrated into thin air. No hope of a reboot. While Ralph was trying to win his medal, he hadn't thought about the consequences. But this time, he found himself on the other side, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

"Hey, stinkbrain, you okay?" Vanellope, who chose to sit with him instead of the other racers, asked. Ralph didn't hear her the first time, so she asked again. "Ralph?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry kid. Yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been really quiet."

Ralph looked toward the _Hero's Duty _port. "Have I? Didn't notice."

"Yeah, I haven't heard your gravelly voice or smelled your smelly feet-breath since you told everyone to shut up."

Ralph chuckled. "So my breath still smells like feet, huh?"

"The stinkiest feet ever. Worse than rotting cheese."

"Thanks Princess Pimplefingers."

"Hey! I do not!" Vanellope laughed. She pulled her hands out of her hoodie and showed them to him, still laughing. However, her laughter slowly died out when she realized that Ralph wasn't laughing with her. "You're really worried about Felix, aren't you?"

"Is it that easy to tell?"

"Kinda…," Vanellope looked down at her shoes and nibbled on the end of her hoodie strap. "But don't worry. It's just like you said, Felix will be okay. He'll come back." Noticing that her pep-talk wasn't raising Ralph's spirits, she tried a different approach. "And besides, even if he doesn't come back, you guys can all come and stay with me in _Sugar Rush._ Well, everyone except for Gene."

"Thanks."

"Until Felix comes back, I'll sit with you if you want."

Ralph smiled. "Sure. I'd like that."

Vanellope gave Ralph a big hug, then settled down next to him to watch for Felix.

Ralph ruffled her hair. He looked to the port. The two of them would watch until Felix came back.

_ Everything will be okay again._

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Please Review!


	7. Chapter 6

Hello hello! I promise I didn't forget you; I just misplaced my planning for this story. Well, I found it, and I've hammered out two new chapters! Please review!

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The port doors behind Felix closed almost automatically. The last thing he heard before that was the gasps of Game Central Station.

A twitch of pain shot through his hand. Felix grimaced and stretched out his fingers to try and soothe it. He hadn't been programmed to punch things or really be violent in any way; thus, he was not prepared for the sudden impact against the Surge Protector's jaw.

He felt just awful about that. After all, the man was only doing his job. He was just trying to keep them all safe.

_But it was his fault for getting in the way. I need to rescue Tammy._

He jumped down the tunnel. The tram system had been suspended due to the Quarter Alert, he supposed. After five minutes of jumping, he made it to the end of the line. All around him sirens blared, lights flashed, and a mechanical voice droned "Quarter Alert. Quarter Alert. This is not a drill" repeatedly.

He ran through the holding pen to the door that led out to the battlefield. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button marked 'Open Door,' ready to face the chaos to save his love. The red-orange glow of the pen changed to a black and acid green hue as the door slid open.

"Jiminy Jaminy."

He had never been inside _Hero's Duty _during a game before. Now he understood why.

Thousands of Cybugs swarmed the field. Eating. Killing. Multiplying. Just like Tammy said. The background music (he thought he heard Tammy mention the players call it 'dubstep') blared at such a high volume it hurt his ears, further adding to the sensory overload being placed on him.

A small Cybug flew over his head and he instinctively ducked to avoid it. He flattened himself against the ground. If any Cybug, even a small one like that, came after him, he would be done for. Cautiously, he inched toward the Tower, the center of the field, on his stomach. However, he soon grew impatient. There was no way he would reach her in time this way!

A feeling of deep anxiety rose in his chest. If he kept going like this, he'd never make it. But if he tried to run and jump, he would be massacred for sure. He brought his right hand forward to continue on, and when he put it back on the ground, he found that he had placed it on some strange object that lay half-buried in the dirt. Quickly, he uncovered it and held it in his hands. The object was a gun. More specifically, the type of blaster the Space Marines were programmed to favor. It was so large on him he needed both hands to operate it.

A Cybug screamed and Felix jerked his head up to see where it came from. To his horror, his eyes met with a whirring, buzzing mas of red eyes, wings, and teeth hurtling towards him. He startled, and, without thinking, raised the gun. The Cybug exploded, and the kickback sent him flying backwards.

Felix sat up, still holding the gun. _Jiminy that was a wallop…_

He blinked a few times, focusing on the point value that flashed up where the Cybug had been. 200. Tammy told him one night in Tapper's that the strongest Cybugs outside of the Tower were 600s.

_That one wasn't half as powerful…oh my land…_

Felix whipped some dirt off of his cheek and the thoughts of death from his mind. He was going to get Tammy no matter what. And now he had a weapon to help him. Blaster raised, he charged ahead. Thirty years of brick dodging had built up a sense of speed and agility in his code, and by George, was it paying off now. He leapt over rocks and twisted hunks of metal, decimating whatever Cybugs came his way.

After a while, his gun clicked. Out of ammo. Desperate, he peered ahead. A refill power up glinted in the distance, between two jagged rocks. _Of course, it's a Quarter Alert. The system's set itself up for a game._

Unfortunately, a Cybug about as big as the first crawled and stalked between him and the power up. Summoning all his courage, he ran, screaming, at it. The Cybug turned, half surprised and lunged at him, teeth whirling. But, at the last moment, Felix leapt into the air and sailed over the Cybug into the crevice He scooped up the refill, and then turned to blast away the bug.

To his horror, he saw the bug crack and fizzle away, along with about a hundred other bugs on the field. That could only mean one thing: a power surge. Soon the power could go out.

Felix stared out onto the chaos of _Hero's Duty. _A wave of despair washed over him. It was hopeless. Even if he did manage to make it to Tammy, there was no guarantee they would make it out. They would be deleted, their games unplugged, countless characters made homeless. He should just sit down right there, let a Cybug eat him for its last meal. It would do just as much good as heading for the Tower.

_Come on champ. Don't think that way. _

Felix thoughts stopped. Had he heard correctly?

_This situation isn't as bleak as all that._

Nope. He hear right. Fix-It Felix Sr. was giving him a pep talk.

_You can do it; you're a Fix-it after all. And we Fix-its never give up. So dust off yourself, grab that blaster, and go!_

His father was right. If he gave up on Tammy now, he'd never be able to forgive himself, even if it was only for a few minutes. Whatever danger he was in was worth it, if it was to save his friends.

Felix pulled his cap tighter onto his head, and headed towards the tower.


	8. Chapter 7

Yay new chapter! Please review!

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It had been almost a half an hour. Felix hadn't come back yet. Game Central Station was still relatively calm. The Sugar Rush Racers slept, the Nicelanders sipped root beer, other characters mingled, not much had changed. Ralph and Vanellope still sat in front of _Hero's Duty, _though they had migrated to a nearby bench.

"So, stinkbrain."

"Yes your royal cheesiness?"

"Um…nevermind. Nothing."

Ralph glanced over at the girl he had come to see as his sister. She had been trying to make small talk like this for the past twenty minutes. Something was wrong.

"It's not nothing kid. What's up?"

She started chewing on her hoodie straps.

"Come on Van. What's wrong?"

"Well…,"she began, words slurred by the strap, "why's Felix so freaked out?"

"Calhoun's stuck in her game. She could be deleted forever."

"Yeah but…I don't get it. He could get into big trouble. If he gets stuck in there, your game gets it too. Why would he risk that?"

"It's like…look at it this way kid, remember how we met? And how your game was almost destroyed?"

"How could I forget that?! I was nearly—it's the same thing, isn't it? You almost blew up in that Diet Cola volcano…just to save me."

"Yes."

"And Felix is doing the same for Sarge."

"Bingo. It's just the same. I couldn't stand to see my only friend after thirty years go up in code, and Felix can't watch the only person he's loved in twenty-nine years go up either."

"Twenty-nine? Wait, are you saying Felix was married before?" The licorice string fell.

"No. I mean his father. Fix-it Felix Senior."

"Felix had a father? A real life one, not just a backstory?"

"Mhmm."

"What happened?"

Ralph picked at his nails. "Promise you won't tell him I told you?"

Vanellope nodded. "Promise."

Ralph nodded back. "Okay.

"Twenty-nine years ago, before the Turbo Incident, back before most of the games in the arcade were even in development, my game wasn't known as Fix-it Felix Jr. here. It was just called Fix-it Felix. Felix's father, Fix-it Senior, was the main character of the game. He did basically the same as Felix does today, except when a player made it to the top of the final level, Mary gave him a kiss, I got chucked off into the mud, and Felix—our Felix—would say 'Good Job Dad! I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"

"So Felix wasn't originally a playable character?"

"No. He was never meant to be playable. But one night, there was a storm. The power was in danger of going out. Fix-it Senior took charge of the evacuation, but once everything settled down, he saw that Felix was nowhere to be found. He told me to take charge and make sure the Nicelanders didn't know where he went.

"He went back into the game. Soon, the Nicelanders figured out where he went and tried to follow. 'If he goes, we all go,' they said. I kept my promise to Fix-it Senior. I kept the Nicelanders in the station, much to their dislike. Just when it felt like I couldn't contain them, I saw the Fix-its running down the portal, Senior dragging Felix behind. The power kept surging, we knew it was only a matter of time before it cut out completely.

"Just before the y made it, Senior stumbled over something and fell. Well, they'd been running so fast that Felix kept going, right through the portal, and into the station. Before Senior could get to his feet, the power went out.

"When it came back on, all that was left of Fix-it Felix Senior was his magic hammer. Felix became the protagonist of the game, and it's been his ever since."

"Wait," Vanellope asked after she took a moment to process the new information. "How did the players not notice?"

"Hardly anyone ever made it to the final level, so no player ever saw Felix."

"What about the name change?"

"Felix is actually Fix-it Felix the Third. There was the original Fix-it Felix, Fix-it Felix Senior, then our Felix. It's complicated. But no one noticed."

"So Felix's dad just…disappeared? Gone? Poof?"

Ralph nodded grimly. "All except the hammer. That's how Felix became the protagonist."

"And that's why he's so nervous about getting Sarge back."

"Remember, I made you to promise to never tell."

"I know, I know." Tears welled up in her eyes. "It's just so sad…you mean his father's just…gone? No code left at all?"

"I'm not sure. There might be some, seeing as he was the main character, but none of us knew—or even know now—all that much about code building. So if there is, it's just floating around."

Vanellope nodded. "We're lucky."

"Why's that, Madame President Pufferfish?"

"If you guys had gotten unplugged, I never would've met you. I'da been stuck as a glitch forever."

They sat in silence for a moment. Vanellope put her head on Ralph's forearm. "You're my best friend Ralph."

"You're mine too kid."

"If anything happens…"

"I know." Ralph looked out to the_ Hero's Duty _port. "I know."


End file.
